“Let’s invest our way out of this crisis,” Habek pleaded, citing the economic consequences of the conflict with Russia. He promised: “We will not confuse cause and effect.” Habek added that many of the Greens faced hostility. “Because we stand for everything that Putin and German trolls hate.”
Habek: “It pays to be in government”
Habeck drew a positive balance for the green participation in the Traffic Light Coalition with the Social Democratic Party and the Freedom and Justice Party. “It helps to be in government.” Among other things, he indicated the successor to the ticket 9 euros, the minimum wage of 12 euros per hour, the new immigration law and animal welfare rules.
Regarding the mood in the coalition, he said, “I don’t want to cover up the fact that sometimes there are problems in so many places. It’s not nice at all, sometimes, it’s not at all good to look at, you don’t want to talk about it.”
Habeck said he’s been with the Greens for 20 years. “I’ve never felt as at home as I did during this stage, and I’ve never been more proud of this party.” Delegates celebrated your speech, and were interrupted by applause over and over again.
Lang calls for ‘winter of solidarity’
The Greens charted their course in dealing with inflation and the energy crisis on the first day of their convention. The three-day federal party convention with about 800 delegates is the first on-site meeting of the Greens since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The party meeting, deeply rooted in the anti-nuclear movement, was overshadowed by an alliance dispute over the remaining service life of the last three nuclear reactors.
Party leader Ricarda Lange campaigned for Habeck’s proposed operational reserve for two of the three remaining nuclear power plants. At the same time, she stressed, the Greens were not prepared to base their decisions on the poor results of the FDP. “New fuel rods, a return to nuclear power, and that’s not going to happen with us,” she said.
“Let’s turn the much-vaunted winter of anger into a winter of solidarity,” Lang demanded. She emphasized that in addition to relief packages, structural improvements are needed, noting the increase in the minimum wage and the planned citizens’ allowance. “This country has an inequality problem,” Lang said, adding, “Germany needs to be more fair.”
German Trade Union President Yasmine Fahimi also called for more social justice in the relief packages. She suggested that the state pay not only one monthly down payment but also a monthly down payment for energy costs. “We need a policy of fair change and fair burden-sharing,” the DGB chief said in a guest address.
